Time Two Save the World
by inteligencerles
Summary: Almost a year after the outbreak in China, Sherry is sent on another mission. But, it's exactly like Raccoon City. The only difference - this time it's a new, deadly virus, made from her blood. Can Sherry re-live the past? Can Jake save her, just as she saved him? And can their teammates deal with the truths that are presented to them? (A/N - Disclaimer. all rights to Capcom)
1. Reunion

He hadn't stopped thinking about her for a while; she played on his mind all the time, and her memory would never fad no matter what he did. He couldn't get her voice, her petit figure or her crystal blue eyes, out of his mind. It was starting to get too much. He'd text her every so often to see how she was, and even when she text back to say she was fine and holding up okay, he knew that she was trying to put on the same brave face she did in Edonia and (especially) Lashiang.

Jake sighed inwardly as he thought about how he felt for Sherry Birkin, and how no longer than a year ago he wouldn't have cared. But she had saved him after all. From being that man, and being who his father had been. He had been a cold-hearted, selfish bastard back then, not caring because he didn't want to be hurt ever again after his mother died.

It all seemed like a lifetime ago.

'Jake?' the voice on the other end of the line jumped him from his thoughts.

'Yeah Super Girl?' Jake forgot where their first actual conversation in weeks had gotten to.

'Are you still coming to Washington?'

'No, I'm going to L.A,' Jake sarcastically remarked, a smirk on his face as he could practically see her rolling her eyes on the other end of the phone.

'Just get here soon, wise ass.' He heard her smirking as he hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. He walked out of his motel room, across the parking lot and to his Harley Davidson. He swung his leg over and started it up, feeling a real sense of joy run through him as he heard the engine purr. He revved it a few times before kicking the stand away and speeding off.

Sherry hung up the phone and got back to her paper work. She should have been finished the day before, but had at least another hours work. Hunnigan had given her a new field mission, but she had to finish all of her paperwork before and had to wait for her field-partner of choice to get there, before they got the briefing.

She sighed loudly as she continued with writing her reports and findings. She had typed them, spoken them, and now she had to hand-write and file all of them. She'd gotten into the office at around six that morning, just so that she could hopefully get it all done before her partner got there. It was now nine, and everyone was starting their shift. Sherry decided that it was as good a time as any to have a break and get a coffee. A strong one. She walked over to the coffee machine, got a cup and turned it on.

'Sherry!' A voice called to her from the right. She turned to see Leon, finally back from his first mission after China. He reached her as she got her coffee and asked, 'you're going on a field mission already?'

'How'd you find out?' Sherry asked, slightly surprised at the older agent's knowledge of the secret.

'Hunnigan,' he answered simply, with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. But as he thought of something, his smile dropped instantly, and suddenly his expression was serious. 'Are you sure you're okay with this? You only got back from China eight months ago.'

'As did you.' Sherry counted, a smile tugging at her lips. 'I'll be fine Leon. I need to do this. The death of Simmons didn't help us for long.' Sherry felt a pang of both sadness and guilt as she thought about the death of her legal guardian, and disheartened at the memory of finding out who he really was. She even still felt as though she had betrayed Jake by not seeing what he was going to do sooner. She knew she was going to be experimented on – that seemed to be an unspoken part of the deal. But she had no idea that they were going to do so many similar teste on the mercenary.

'Sherry –'

'Plus, I'm sick of just sitting in an office doing paperwork and filing.' Sherry cut Leon off, not wanting anymore apologies from the agent for killing Simmons, as she knew it was the right thing to do, something that had to be done. She smiled and sighed as she realised that she had some work to do. 'I'll talk to you later Leon.' The older agent nodded as she turned and walked back to her desk, ready to finish her paperwork before her partner got there.

She sat down and sipped her coffee as she continued writing up her reports and other files for around another hour. When she was finally finished at just gone ten-thirty, she sighed and went to the cafeteria for some breakfast and a decent coffee. She paid for her coffee and just-warm croissant, and as she got back to her desk her phone rang.

'Sherry Birkin,' she answered, putting down her coffee and sighing inwardly. She still hadn't filed all her work or reported to Hunnigan.

'Hey Supergirl. Interrupting something?' Jake's voice said, coy and smug as it often was.

Sherry rolled her eyes before answering. 'Just paperwork. Unlike you, I have to do the boring work too.'

Jake laughed on the other end of the phone, obviously finding the fact amusing.

'What's up Jake?'

'Just thought I'd tell you I'm about five minutes away. Or don't you want me anymore?'

'I'll meet you out front then.' Sherry ended the call, not bothering to reply to Jake's remark. Of course she wanted him to come, she wanted to see him again, and she wanted to do more than just get to know him for who he really was…

The thought brought a slight blush to her cheeks, but the heat left immediately when she remembered the fact that may not happen.

Sherry got up from her chair and quickly filed her papers before going to the main lobby. The glass panes that made up the front of the buildings foyer reflected the late February light, causing Sherry to barely be able to see outside with the bright light in her eyes, but the black silhouette of a bike stood out amongst the cars in the parking lot.

Sherry walked out into the parking lot through the glass doors and straight over to the towering figure who looked straight back at her. Sherry felt real joy for the first time in a long while as she got closer to the figure, seeing his piercing blue eyes calm, unlike back in Edonia or China. Yet, those ice-blue eyes still brought back horrid memories she remembered and saw too clearly.

Jake noticed her smile waver slightly as she walked up to him, knowing that something was bugging her. But, he also knew that there was no point in prying, as she would always say she was fine and be done with it. End of story. She'd then change the subject to anything but herself.

'Hey Supergirl. Long time no see,' Jake said as she approached him, aware if the tired circles under her eyes,

'A whole eight months,' Sherry smiled again.

Jake opened his mouth to speak, but the familiar chime of Sherry's phone ringing cut him off. She pulled it from her pocket, throwing an apologetic smile towards Jake, before giving a questioning look at the phone. Jake chuckled slightly.

'Agent Birkin.'

'Has your partner arrived yet Sherry?' Hunnigan asked.

'Yes ma'am.'

'Have you finished and filed all of the repots yet?'

'Yes. I just sent them up to you.' She stopped and thought for a moment. 'Is there a problem ma'am?'

'Excellent. But I'm sorry to inform you that you will not be briefed today.'

'What? But ma'am –'

'I know Sherry. But this is a highly classified, highly _dangerous_ mission.' The emphasis the director of the D.S.O put on 'dangerous' sent shivers down Sherry's spine and set her nerves on edge. Jake noticed her tense her grip on her phone ever-so-slightly. 'I'm terribly sorry Agent Birkin. I have re-scheduled the briefing for tomorrow morning – you and your partner will have to be at my office for eleven a.m. If all of your paperwork has been sent up to me, you and your partner can leave.'

'Understood. Thank you ma'am.' Sherry hung up the phone with a sigh, then looked up at a puzzled Jake. 'Briefing's tomorrow. Sorry Jake.'

'No need,' Jake said, knowing that the conversation with her boss had stressed his older partner out.

'Do you need a place to stay? You can sleep on the couch.'

Jake thought about it for a moment, rubbing his chin in mock thought. 'I think I'll take you up on that.' He smiled as she smiled back at him, her cheeks slightly blushed.

'Oh!' Sherry suddenly remembered something. 'I just have to go back and get my bag. You coming?' Without waiting for an answer, Sherry turned and started to walk back to the doors, with Jake following behind her. They went to the elevator and up to the tenth floor, talking small talk for the 48 second trip. Sherry couldn't help but yawn frequently throughout the short trip, apologising every time she did. Jake shrugged it off, but couldn't quite understand why she was so tired when she had a temporary nine-to-five job. The thought was pushed aside though when the doors opened and there stood a familiar face.

'Hey Hero,' Jake said, a smirk on his face,

'The agent smiled back at him, and then firmly shook his outstretched hand. 'Nice to see you again Jake. You Sherry's partner for the mission?'

'Leon!' It's classified,' Sherry hissed from beside him, then she went to get her bag.

'Fill me in Leon.' Jake was serious, and Leon caught on. He placed his coffee on the nearest desk, paying his full attention to what the mercenary had to say. 'What's up with Sherry? She seems hell too tired to just be working on papers.'

Leon looked over to see that Sherry was already on the way back over, so quickly uttered the words 'Raccoon City.' He then took his coffee from the desk and started up another conversation. 'I hope you're not asking for $50 million again kid.' He joked as Sherry reached them.

'Don't give me that shit. Who do you think I am?' Jake said, mock hurt.

Leon chuckled slightly before replying, 'obviously not the cold-hearted Merc. I met in China.'

'You got that right.' The men smiled at each other, enjoying their little joke. 'See you around.' Leon nodded goodbye back before walking away.

The duo got back into the elevator and went back to the parking lot. They got to Jake's bike and he was about to mount it when he noticed that Sherry had stopped and seemed to be in deep thought. Jake studied her face and knew that she was thinking about something, or someone, close to her.

'Sherry?' She didn't react, but the grip on her bag tightened slightly. Jake walked around the bike to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking down at the blonde with a slightly worried gaze. 'You okay?' he asked gently, his voice a whisper.

Sherry looked away for a moment before looking back, smiling up at the younger man, 'Yeah.' There was a slight paused before she said 'I really missed you Jake.'

The mercenary was taken by surprise for a moment. Not many people said that they'd missed him, and on no occasion had they been genuine – most of the time it was bullshit just to get him to come back. Jake was completely taken aback by the truth behind those words.

After a few moments, Jake regained his composure and smiled. 'C'mon Supergirl. Let's get going.' He then hopped onto his bike and Sherry got on behind him as he started up the engine.

Sherry directed him to her apartment, enjoying the rush of the wind in her boyish hair almost as much as holding onto Jake's waist. Unlike in China, she could enjoy the ride, and the fact that Jake most-probably taught himself to ride only phased her for a few seconds. She was having fun, and when they got to her apartment and parked the bike up, she didn't want to let go of the driver.


	2. Saving Supergirl

She'd been asleep for only a few hours, but the nightmare had already gotten to her and taken hold of her mind, and her before peaceful sleep. Before, she had a nice dream, one that she could sleep with – her and Jake. Just the two of them, doing things that people tended to do in cheesy movies. They went to the coast, the mall and on a long bike journey down a lonely highway.

However, too soon was the dream wiped away from her peaceful mind, along with any chance of her having a peaceful sleep. They arrived at Raccoon, and now Jake had vanished, evaporated into thin air. From then on, she dreamt of her father, her mother, Claire and Leon. She dreamt about her father's mutations, being implanted with the G embryo, her father's death and the knowledge that her mother had died too. Claire was present too, helping her and trying to get the both of them out…

She found Claire in a pool of blood – her blood. She was screaming; screaming for Sherry to find Leon and get out. She assured her that he would have the antidote, that he would get her out. That she was sorry. She was sorry that she couldn't protect her, as she breathed her last breath.

Sherry was moaning and moving in her sleep, yet she continued to slumber as did Jake. As she continued to turn in her now sweaty bed, the twelve-year-old girl within her mind ran around the underground facility, trying to find Leon and a way out. But the pain in her lower stomach prevented her from moving forward, and as it got worse she fell to the ground crying in pain, exhaustion and fear. She curled in on herself, her eyes tightly shut and her jaw clenched in pain. It had been a long night. Both her parents had died, and the woman who promised to get her out of here, to fight this with her, had died because of them.

She cried and wailed, the sound echoing off the empty walls and halls, as the pain intensified, blinding her. She started to scream, the pain becoming too much for the pre-teen until it finally ended. There was a small eruption of blood from her lower stomach, her skin and muscle and fat peeling back, almost flowering. A creature of some sort came out, no like a giant maggot, before the young Sherry passed out and died from blood loss.

Sherry woke up in a pool of her own sweat screaming. The nightmares had always been about Raccoon City since the incident occurred. But it never involved Claire dying, or herself. Her body shook as she continued to scream. She sat up, hugged her knees to her chest, and forced herself to stop screaming. She didn't want to wake the neighbours, _again_. A fresh sweat broke out on her brow as she heard the door to her bedroom opening, and quickly there was a figure stood against the light of the hall. It approached her, moving across the room in two strides. Sherry closed her eyes as a tear shed itself, and trailed down her cheek.

'Sherry?' Jake asked her as he gently sat on her bed. She lifted her head and looked at him, her body still trembling from the images she saw. No – from the images she felt. Jake gently pulled her in for a hug, stroking her boyish hair as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Sherry suddenly burst into tears, her eyes swollen from holding them in for too long. 'It's okay. I'm here now. Shh…' Jake calmly muttered into her hair, as he gently stroked it. Her cries became quiet and small as she started to calm down, but that didn't prevent Jake from being concerned. Her screams had been loud enough (thankfully not long enough), to wake the whole apartment block.

The young woman pulled away from Jake's chest after another couple of minutes, wiping her eyes and shaking her head slightly, embarrassed and ashamed. He kept her in his arms, not really wanting to let her go. And she didn't pull away either. Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around him and looked into his ice-blue eyes, seeing them full of concern and worry.

'Thank you,' she whispered, before burying her face in the crook of his neck. Jake smiled slightly and held her tighter, then continued to stroke her hair. It was ironic – how she saved him all those months ago from becoming the man his father had been, and now it was his turn to save Sherry from her nightmares, from the troubling images of the past that continued to influence her life.

That was how he knew he had to ask a question that might make her upset again, might stop her from trusting her, and might stop what they had at that moment, but might also relieve some of her fear and sadness. He sighed and pulled away from her slightly, before sighing again and finally asking.

'It was Raccoon City, wasn't it?'

Sherry tensed, her shoulders rising and her breath catching. Some sort of dread filled her at his knowledge of the incident, and how it haunted her. She knew that he could always tell she wasn't always in the right frame of mind, no matter how hard she tried, but she was sure he never knew they were due to something provoking the memories of the torturous night. She had spoken about the incident, back in that cabin over a year ago.

She had told him a few things that had happened, and he had been in contact with others on the occasion, so he could have any information he wanted from them. She realised that he had never asked about what happened in much detail, or about their fathers and their relationship. Their fathers had been close, and the thought made Sherry think that he might not want to know about that. He might have even already had his own ideas, especially after her reaction when he asked about him in the underwater facility.

The way Sherry tensed and her silence seemed to give Jake a good idea of the answer to his question.

He looked at the digital clock on the bedside table to see that it was only two a.m. This made the need for him to go back to the couch and get some extra shut-eye a good idea. 'Try to get some more sleep Supergirl,' he whispered, and she nodded before reluctantly letting go of Jake and laying down. Jake quickly got up and left, leaving the bedroom door ajar as he went back down the hall to the living area. He laid on the couch and fell asleep sooner than expected.

Jake drifted off into a calm sleep, not having nightmares of past missions, his mother's death or the faces of those he'd killed. He had lucid dreams that ravelled into one, about his mother and Sherry getting on, talking amongst themselves as women tended to. He just sat there, in the beaten up armchair that sat in the corner of his older living room, watching them, enjoying the idea that his mother was still alive - if only for an hour or so, and in his subconscious. He also felt quite uplifted by the additional idea that the woman he felt he'd soon know so well, was getting along with the only real family member he had. It helped him realise just how much he truly wanted her to be his, and how much she needed his help.

He _could_ help her.

He realised how much he meant to her.

Jake's time of pleasant dreams and sleep was interrupted by a muffled scream and muted whimpering. He knew instantly where it came from and ran down the small corridor to the bedroom at the very end. He didn't pause as he ran through the door and straight to the bed, where a startled Sherry lay.

'You _died_ Jake!' Sherry shouted, before bursting into tears, her body hunched and heaving with every new sob to wave over her.

Jake quickly went over to her and laid next to her, enveloped her in his arms and pulled her close to his chest. He rested his chin gently on the top of her head, then slowly rubbed his hand up and down Sherry's back. He made the same soft, cooing noises he did the last time she woke screaming and held her tighter, even though he was fully aware that it wouldn't stop the pain the older woman was feeling.

She explained, through tears, that he had died trying to protect her from the Ustanak they faced, and told him how he efforts were clearly in vain as the images plagued her mind; the claw reaching out towards her, Jake pushing her away, and the way one pointed edge of the claw ripped through his abdomen. She had just cried over his dying body, as Ustanak came over and finished the job.

'I'm still here, aren't I?' Jake looked down at her, love and worry for her all over his face. Sherry noticed that his usually cold eyes were softer, the blue of his eyes seeming slightly darker, warmer. 'We saved each other back there with that bastard. And I wasn't going to leave you like that.'

Sherry met his eyes with her watery ones before asking, 'would you leave me like that?'

'Of course not!' Jake tightened his arms around her waist, slightly annoyed by the question. There wasn't the slightest chance of that happening as long as he could help it. They looked into each other's eyes, holding their gaze for a long moment. Then Sherry quickly moved her face closer to his and kissed his cheek. She pulled back and looked into his eyes, a slight, shy blush covering her cheeks.

Jake seemed slightly shocked. Sherry realised, looked away, now feeling unsure and very embarrassed. She gently started to pull away before Jake tightened his grip on her waist, just enough to keep her from moving away from him anymore.

She looked up at him, and it was her turn to be shocked. And before she could process what was happening, Jake dipped his head and lifted her chin. He cupped her cheek in his hand and wiped away a lone tear with his thumb. He then moved his face closer to the older woman's and joined his lips with hers.

The kiss was tender, and only lasted a few seconds, but to the couple it seemed like a lifetime.

Jake pulled away and looked back down at Sherry's delicate face, very amused by the smile and blush that slowly crept onto it. 'You should get some sleep,' Jake whispered into her ear gently. She nodded, feeling as though she could sleep soundly in his strong, warm arms. Sherry buried her head in Jake's chest and closed her eyes, laying her right arm over his muscular, broad chest and the other under her cheek. Jake smiled softly as he watched her drift to sleep, and decided that he should join her in the land of dreams.

As he was almost asleep, Jake barely heard the muttered 'goodnight Jake,' that made it out of Sherry's soft lips.

'Goodnight Supergirl,' Jake managed to reply before finally falling to sleep.

The alarm buzzed beside Sherry's ear, causing her to instantly sit up and do a sweep of the room. She realised then that it was the alarm, sighed and turned it off. It was only seven a.m, and laid back when she remembered that the two of them weren't needed for the briefing until eleven.

There was no chance she was getting up any time soon anyway. Jake groaned, wrapped his arm back around Sherry's waist and pulled her nearer to him. She giggled as she turned and snuggled into him, wrapping her arms around his chest.

Jake smiled and kissed her forehead, happy that she had finally slept soundly with no nightmares. He tightened his grip around her and stroked her back gently, knowing from the slight shudders rippling her body that he'd got it right.

Sherry thought for a moment as Jake dozed off. She thought about their mission and whether asking Jake to be her partner was a good idea. They now had the predicament of being romantically interested in each other, and that could affect how they react and their actions when they are on the mission. She could have just asked Leon, as he was a skilled and highly trained _agent_ – he had been professionally trained for missions like this. As she hadn't been on a mission with him, in the field with him by her side, despite him saving her in Raccoon City, she couldn't trust him in the field. But she had worked with Jake, now trusting him with her life more than anyone else. Yet, questions still running in her head, showing her doubts. What if he was killed? What if she can't save him this time? What if she lost herself half-way through, like she very almost did in the underwater facility?

What if…?

'Sherry?' Jake said, lifting her chin and looking down at her softly. 'What are you thinking about?'

She had the same perplexed look in her eyes as the day before, and it worried him. He was scared he was going to lose her.

'Nothing,' Sherry answered, before closing her eyes.


	3. The Mission

The head of the D.S.O sat at her desk as the young man and woman looked at her expectantly. Hunnigan knew that Sherry was excited, and that she made the right decision pf letting her personally choosing her field partner for this mission. Shs didn't trust Jake Muller, the redhead sat beside the blonde, slightly closer than expected, but she had heard some good things about him from Sherry – although it was now clear that their relationship stretched beyond friends. She frowned slightly as the thought of it possibly getting in the way, but they had 72hours before the mission started.

'Neo-Umbrella has not been stopped. The death of Carla Radames and Derek Simmons did nothing to quench their need for world power.' Hunnigan informed them, giving them both a copy of the folder with all the information needed.

She took a breath before continuing. 'They managed to get some of your blood, Sherry. None of Jake's was recovered after the destruction of the facilities, but they somehow got yours. There have been reports from my sources in Illinois, there has been a viral outbreak, much like the one sixteen years ago. It is thought to be a new strain of the G-virus, enhanced through the prototype C-virus released last year.'

Sherry felt shivers down her spine at the information they had been given. She didn't want a repeat of Raccoon City, and with the outbreak situated in Illinois, where her home town had been situated, and the virus being similar… it all reminded her of Raccoon City. She now felt a very heavy ball of dread weigh in her stomach and was suddenly not wanting to go on the mssion. She wanted to now go back to her apartment and just have a bath, so that she could forget the world around her and the world of her past for a while.

She could also feel the dampness at the back of her eyes and the sting of tears that were about to b shed. She was disappointed. How could she have let anything like Raccoon happen again? She had not become Agent Sherry Birkin for this to happen. She hadn't gone through all she had, just so that this could happen to some other town. She went through all she had to _stop___something like this happening again. That's why she went to China.

'Sherry?' Jake whispered, looking at her in worry. He knew that she had been implanted with the G-virus embryo, and that it was the G-virus their fathers had been working on. He also recalled that Birkin had injected himself with the deadly virus top stop Umbrella getting it.

Jake scoffed to himself. That had worked when the bastards were around, but now that Neo-Umbrella had come around, they has the virus they'd always wanted.

_God, what is she thinking?_ Jake thought after getting no reaction form a now blanked-out Sherry.

Sherry couldn't believe this. A few seconds ago, she was thinking about just abandoning the mission, and now she was thinking that it was her fault. She knew the only way they could have gotten those samples was from them being captured – the samples were from her blood. They were captured because she wasn't careful enough, she hadn't done her job properly. She should have seen what Simmons was doing, what he was going to do, and she should have acted sooner, tried to get the both out before something like this could have happened, before they got her blood and before anyone got the chance to escape with the samples.

Jake gently held Sherry's hand and she seemed to come back to the room. She had the same look on her face as the day before. He looked at her, now more than slightly concerned. She slowly looked at him with what he knew to be the gleam of tears in her eyes. She gently squeezed his hand, grateful for him being there.

Hunnigan gave Sherry a questioning look before continuing. 'Your mission is to locate George Sanders, obtain the virus sample and bring both it and Dr. Sanders back here as soon as possible. The information you need is in these folders.' Hunnigan pushed the folders over the desk towards the two, ready for if Sherry had a breakdown, and knowing that she needed some time to get the thoughts through her head before actually going through with the mission. 'You can back out any time you want Sherry.'

But the agent seemed to not hear her, and just kept her firm grip on the mercenary who didn't seem to mind.

He looked over at Sherry, seeing the blankness and slight fear in her gaze. Jake knew he had o get her out, but he also needed to ask Hunnigan something.

'C'mon Super Girl,' Jake stood up and took the folders from the desk. 'Let's get going.' Jake held her hand and took her out into the hall, where Leon was waiting. Jake asked the older agent if he could watch Sherry for a moment before going back into the Director's office with a slight knock.

Jake tried to keep his temper in check as he walked over to Hunnigan's desk, then realised that there was no point – his temper was well known to many at the D.S.O, so there was no point pretending. He didn't have to work for them anyway. He didn't have to accept their money. He slammed the files onto the desk and rested his arms there, looking Hunnigan straight in the eye.

She didn't falter.

'Why the _hell_ are you sending her out on a mission that relates to her past? The same virus? The same scenario? The same _state_? Really?!' Jake asked through gritted teeth.

'We need to neautralise Neo-Umbrella and the company's efforts. I'm sorry Mr. Muller, but I have to send all of my best agents in on this. The threat is too great.'

Jake slammed his fist against the desk, causing Hunnigan's half-finished tea to spill. 'This isn't right Hunnigan!' Jake was trying once again to keep his temper in check, but to no avail. He knew he had to keep his voice down, just so that Sherry didn't overhear.

'You really think that she can do this?' Jake said with a sigh.

'I believe that she had to do this. If she wants to stop Bioterrorism, then this is a step towards that. There is no "can" or "can't" in the matter. Hunnigan still seemed amazingly calm despite the accusation thrown upon her by an angry Jake.

'That doesn't answer my question. Do you really think Sherry can do this? As a human being?' Jake was going to lose it sooner or later.

'Agent Birkin is capable of many things, Mr. Muller. She has overcome many things in the past sixteen years, and has the great determination needed by every agent, especially here –'

'God damn it Hunnigan!' Jake slammed his fist on the desk again, leaning forward so that he looked the Director in the eye and had her full attention. 'It's a simple question Hunnigan.'

'No, Mr. Muller.' She was solemn, and her voice now quiet as she puched her glasses up the ridge of her nose. There was less authority in her voice. Jake saw that she was genuinely upset, but he was slightly confused by her sudden answer and didn't soften up.

'What?' He whispered, in undisguised shock.

'No. I do not believe she is capable of this mission.' Hunnigan sighed and stood up, meeting Jake's gaze. 'Physically, yes, Sherry is more than capable of doing this mission. But she really cannot do this mission in all truth. Sherry suffered from severe P.T.S.D after Raccoon City for approximately seven years, and is still suffering terribly from it. Around the time after Wesker – your father – was killed, Derek Simmons took her into parental custody. There was no need for this, but with your father gone, it was indeed good cover to start experimenting on her and trying to create a new virus.

'Sherry has always felt ashamed. She knew what they were doing the whole time, but she also knew that if she tried anything, she would be killed. Without question. They had enough of the virus and her blood by this time, they just didn't want her to go anywhere. They still needed to run tests. Sherry was now getting therapy for her P.T.S.D by this time. But finding out what Simmons was truly up to and what he truly wanted with you… it broke her again Jake. Now, she still thinks of it all as her fault; the both of you being taken and experimented on; the outbreaks across the Middle East; and she's always praying sorry that she was gullible enough to almost get you both killed.'

Jake saw a slight sheen in her eyes as she looked back at him, knowing that she had answered all of the questions that really played on his mind. He was grateful for that, yet still somewhat shocked by the Directors behaviour. She had seemed unbreakable and adamant that the couple could do the mission. At least Jake now knew why Sherry was so determined, and also why she still had nightmare at the age of 27. He also now knew that he wasn't the only one that still had them.

'Does that answer your question, Mr. Muller?' Hunnigan asked, clearing her throat. Jake simply nodded and picked up the files again. 'You are dismissed Mr. Muller.' Jake shook his head out slightly as he walked out, hearing the authority back in her voice.

Jake walked out of the Director's office, closing the door softly behind him, and walked straight over to Sherry. She didn't seem to be in her dazed state anymore. In fact, she seemed to have almost forgotten her previous thoughts, and was thankfully aware of everything again. She seemed quite happy actually. She had a glitter in her eye. _Has Hero said something?_ Jake thought, froning slightly but smiling despite himself. It wouldn't have surprised him though.

Jake realised that they were close, and had some sort of weird father-daughter relationship going on.

'Everything okay Jake?' Leon asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Fine Hero,' Jake answered, giving him a slight smile. He studied the older agent's face for a moment, noting that he too was also genuinely happy about something. 'You both seem happy. What did I miss?'

'I just got engaged to Claire.' Leon said it as if it was no big deal, but the glimmer in his eyes told Jake otherwise. He had to think for a moment, then remembered that Claire was the Jarhead's sister... Redfield, that was it!

Jake chuckled slightly as he gave Leon a congratulatory slap on the back. 'I've heard rumours, but didn't think you too were official. Nice going Leon.' He winked at Sherry.

Sherry knew that Jake really cared, and in that moment, love him even more.


	4. Starting something

'What a freakin' dump!' Jake said as he dropped his rucksack on to the yellow stained bed. Sherry sighed as she placed her own bag next to his, then coughed as she inhaled the dust that came from the mattress. She looked around the down-graded hotel, which seemed to have been fancy once, with the grand looking fireplace and the four-poster bed. Not it was cheap and filthy, obviously not very well kept in the past couple of weeks.

'I thought the D.S.O had money.' Jake grumbled.

They had just arrived a few miles outside of the outbreak zone. Everywhere was quarantined up to this point, and the hotel they were currently in seemed to have been left a few weeks ago when the outbreak first occurred. They were the first agents to arrive in Illinois – Leon, Claire, Jill and Chis were due to arrive in a few hours. Sherry and Jake were ordered to go to the rendezvous sight and wait, which is what they were currently trying to do.

Until Jake got bored.

'I can't wait around any longer,' Jake announced as he got off the bed. If they were here now, they might as well have started the mission to save some time. 'I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go and scout the area.'

'Jake, wait!' Sherry called as he got to the door. 'You can't go alone. We don't know what's out there.'

'Does that mean you're coming Super Girl?' He raised an eyebrow as he looked back at her, an amused smile playing on his lips.

Sherry looked down, not able to look the mercenary in the eye. He didn't seem to understand fully why Sherry wanted to wait for rendezvous before going out there. If something went wrong, there was no back up. Not only that, but she would rather gone out into the nightmare she knew all too well with the bigger group, than just the two of them. The chances of them having to split up were too great, too much of a risk for Sherry to contemplate. When she got split from Claire in Raccoon, the worst things happened to her. If she split off from Jake now, anything could happen.

She felt ashamed.

She felt ashamed, because she was terrified.

Jake walked over to her and lifted her chin gently. She looked into those pale blue eyes to see concern and love openly showing. And no matter how hard she searched, she didn't see a single hint of pity.

'It's okay,' Jake whispered. He then bent his neck and slowly placed his lip on her own soft, naturally dark lips. Sherry had never properly kissed a guy before, and her cheeks blushed a pale red at the reminder, but she was happy it was Jake she was kissing.

She didn't really know how to react at first, but after realising how much she had wanted to be kissed by the man she started to have feelings for, she started to guess at what to do. She felt him start to pull away, then wrapped her arms around his neck, not wanting the kiss to stop. Jake smiled as he continued to kiss Sherry, happy that she wanted this as much as he did.

Jake moved his lips slowly to begin with, able to tell that she wasn't the most experienced kisser. He placed one hand on her back between her shoulder blades, the other on her silky hair. His kisses started to become deeper and more passionate, and Sherry went along with him. She lowered her hands down his back, until they had hold of his firm butt cheeks, one in each hand. Jake pulled away from the kiss and looked Sherry in the eye, curiously trailing a hand down her spine, following invisible patterns down to her arse.

They kissed again, more intent and fierce. Jake's groin stiffened slightly as they continued, his mind running ahead of him. They deepened their kiss and Jake moved closer to Sherry, holding her tightly.

But when Jake made a move to un-button Sherry's blouse, he felt her whole body stiffen. She then pulled away and turned to the side, feeling embarrassed and ashamed once again. Jake had rushed it, made her feel vulnerable and other emotions that he couldn't read, but knew weren't good. Why didn't he think? Hunnigan had told him that she had been in protective custody for almost half her life – how could he think she'd be ready?

_Well done Muller,_ he thought sarcastically. 'I'm sorry Sherry.' He stepped behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder, not sure whether any other form of contact would be welcome.

'No Jake. I'm sorry,' Sherry said, turning around to face him. 'I'm just not ready yet…' Her cheeks flushed a deep rose colour, thinking about how somebody younger than her must have had sex so many times, when she hadn't gotten anywhere close to losing her virginity yet! Admittedly, she hadn't thought about it much. On the occasion when she did, she remembered that there was little to no chance of her getting into bed with anyone whilst having tests done and being isolated from the world.

Jake smiled in understanding as he pulled her close to him again, gently kissing her forehead. She looked up at him and kissed him, their lips connecting and moving in sync with each other.

Somebody cleared their throat behind them at the door of the previously abandoned hotel room. The partners pulled away from each other hastily and looked over to the door. There was a group of four people at the door, all between thirty and forty years of age.

Sherry blushed deeply as she leant against Jake's chest, knowing very well that her idols were watching. She felt an awkwardness and tension from one of the men – the oldest of the latter. Jake casually put his arm around her waist and pulled the younger woman closer to him.

'You two seem to be settling in well, but did you forget about the rendezvous?'

Jake was amused by the group of agents' varied reactions to walking in on the couple's make-out. The red-headed woman, who must have been Claire Redfield, seemed quite happy about it from the gleam in her eyes and slight hint of a smile. Jarhead seemed a little uneasy about the situation and possibly slightly angry, unlike the brunette stood with him, who was also uneasy but no anger showed. Jake found it slightly unusual that she had blonde-almost-white lengths of hair considering she was an agent.

The same, however, could not be said for a fuming Leon who stood beside Redfield and his sister. Jake knew he was protective of Sherry – what happened between them in China proved it – and he also remembered they had that odd father-daughter relationship. The agent didn't seem happy _in the slightest_ about the younger couple, and Jake realised with a sudden flair of anger that it was most-likely due to being the son of a highly despised, psychotic and deadly man. A man who was hell-bent on taking over the world, no matter how many lives he fucked around with.

Sherry looked up at the group again after a few moments. Her cheeks were still a rosy pink, but she felt as though this wasn't actually a big deal.

'Well,' Chris said, clearing his throat once again. 'Now that we've rendezvoused and settled down –' he looked pointedly at the couple in the centre of the room '-we should start scouting out the area.'

'Take out any infected and report any possible sighting of Dr. Sanders and Neo-Umbrella's whereabouts,' Leon ordered, already loading up his nine-millimetre.

'We'll rendezvous here again at 1900 hours, just before dark,' Chris continued. The four had obviously planned this on the flight in. 'Jake and Sherry, you'll go west; Leon and Claire, you go south; Jill and I will go east. Keep to the city limits – we'll head inside together tomorrow.'

Everyone nodded, already waling from the room and reloading their weapons. After everyone had left, Jake turned to Sherry and looked down at her. He could feel the fear shine in her eyes, and the anxiety – the doubt. Was she doubting her own abilities? As an agent or as a person?

'Come on Supergirl,' Jake said, gently moving away from her and checking his nine-oh-nine. 'We have about three hours before we have to be back.'

'This is all my fault…' Sherry whispered, finally breaking under the doubt and guilt she felt welling inside of her. She sat on the bed heavily, ignoring the cloud of duct that hit her and focusing on the storm of emotions attacking her brain.

Jake quickly placed his gun on the desk and knelt in front of Sherry. He took the gun from her hands, placed it on the floor and took her soft, fragile-looking hands in his. He looked into her ocean-blue eyes, recognising guilt which he saw in his mother's so many years before. 'If I hear those fucking words out of your mouth again Sherry, I'll have to shut you up for a long time.'

She shook her head at his arrogance, giving a slight sad smile at the joke he was trying to pull. 'If I weren't here Jake –'

'Sherry –'

'No.' Sherry looked him in the eye. 'If it weren't for me, bio-terrorism wouldn't be such a major thing, or something that has to be dealt with at the rate it is. It wouldn't be progressing at the rate it is, and Simmons wouldn't have done what he did. Raccoon City should have only happened once, not again like it has now. If it weren't for me… they used my blood Jake!' The tears were no longer threatening to come – they were already streaming down her face.

If I weren't here –'

'I wouldn't be either! If it weren't for you, Simmons would still be alive and the world would be over-run with B. and other creepy-ass creatures.' Jake cupped her cheek in his hand and gently whispered.

'No matter the odds, right?'


	5. The City Limits

Chris walked quietly, his heavy feet falling silently on the tarmac beneath them. His breathing was in sync with his partner's, both quiet but deep, their ribcages rising and falling at the same time. Their years of experience were showing, their eyes moving to scan the area well despite the poor early-evening light. The partners had almost half a century of experience between them, which came in handy for all missions they did. Despite only being partners for a couple of years recently, the pair knew each other's movements, motions and minds as if they'd not been separated.

'Do you think they'll be okay?' Jill asked.

She didn't have to say who she was referring to, as Chris already knew. He sighed, trying to think about it. Having a romantic relationship with your field partner was never the best idea, or a good idea at all for that matter. He'd found that out when Jill had been taken from him, when he thought she was dead for so long…

They'd both done things they shouldn't have for each other during a mission – they'd both made decisions and sacrifices they shouldn't have made, that put them both in danger, just because their hearts told them to. Chris and Jill were experienced, and had been on more than a handful of missions together. Claire and Leon had only been on two missions together, which concerned Chris very little. On both occasions, they'd done extremely well together and this reassured Chris as he knew they could work better now that they were engaged. Claire was quite an emotional woman, Chris most certainly knew that. But, her reasoning was of professional standards, causing her to only make decisions after thinking it through carefully and not fully depending on her feelings.

The younger partners worried Chris somewhat. They'd only been in the field together a couple of times, and they had also gotten themselves captured on two occasions. He thought about it for a while, thinking about the pros and cons if the two in their partnership, without being romantically inclined with each other. To begin with, they didn't get on too well – Muller was quite rash and hot-headed, his mercenary training and lifestyle ever-present, and Sherry was confident but always questioned herself, her time away from the world impacting on most things.

However, despite the fact that they haven't had much experience in the field together, they seemed to know each other well; they'd managed to work together in the underwater facility.

Chris was at a predicament, and wasn't sure whether they would be okay or not. 'I'm not sure.' He looked over at Jill, taking in her still blonde hair. Wesker must have had a Hitler complex – it was actually the virus that had caused Jill's hair to turn blonde, and the trauma she had endured gave it a slight tint of white*. Her roots were coming through their natural deep brown again, the lack of virus in her system stopping the bleaching of her hair. It had taken them three years to find an appropriate antidote for the agent, but it had been successful and her hair was now a natural colour to her neck. The rest down to the base of her shoulder blades was blonde, and unnatural colour.

'Chris…' Jill whispered, looking dead ahead with her gun aimed at head height. Chris turned his attention away from Jill and towards the target in front of them. Chris instantly raised his gun, automatically aiming for the head of an average height male.

What he saw almost made him take a step back.

Claire ran as fast as she could, trying to get back to Leon before the monster did.

She wasn't sure what it was – had never seen it before. She'd seen many monsters, from zombies to Iron Head, from Bandersnatches to Tyrants. But this was beyond anything she had ever seen. It was at least ten foot tall, had a hulking mass of muscle for each limb and oily, grey sludge covering its whole body, which reminded her much like the slime a slug produced. It had an awful odour to it, which made Claire want to gag whenever it got too close.

They'd only been out for about an hour before running into this creature. It had come barrelling towards them, not making much of a sound as it propelled itself forward on its God-awful slime. The odour had hit them first, making them both gag. Leon had gotten hit out of seemingly nowhere, flying into the air and hitting his head on the City wall, knocking him unconscious. The creature had then knocked Claire back a ways, but she soon got herself up when she saw the creature moving towards her partner, knowing its intent was to kill. She couldn't let that happen.

She ran, her lungs starting to burn as the light started to fade in the sky. They only had about an hour of light left, meaning about thirty minutes before they had to be back at the hotel to meet the others and report.

_Yeah, that's likely Redfield,_ Claire thought, starting to pant as she finally closed the gap between her and Leon. She looked at him quickly, seeing to her relief that he was breathing. She couldn't get close enough to check how well, but at least he was alive.

_He won't be for long if you keep dawdling!_

She raised her gun, aiming for the back of what seemed to be the creatures head. She took a breath in, poised her finger over the trigger, took the safety off, breathed out and – _bam!_ There was a loud noise, Claire's ears rang for a moment. She took a look at the creature, seeing it wobble on its feet, starting to lose its balance, hopefully going to fall.

It stayed stood, the black ooze pouring from its forehead slowing, slowing, then finally seizing. Claire couldn't believe it – a shot to the brain killed any virus victim! That was where the virus resided. If you destroyed the brain, you stopped the virus. Did she have to shoot it several times?

She took aim again, breathing out as she let off another shot, then another, another, and another. After the remaining fourteen rounds had been sent flying deep into the back of the creature's skull, she stopped. It was instantly covered in dark blood, which hardly moved as it seemed to go thick as treacle. The monster cried out, in pain or anger, Claire wasn't sure. But it was loud. _Extremely _loud! Claire had to cover her ears, her 93R warm against her cheek. She staggered back, the highly-pitched, glass-shattering noise emitting from the monster's mouth almost too much.

It staggered back, Claire having to dodge out of the way as its heavy body of genetically engineered muscle fell where she had been moments ago. She could have sworn to God that the ground shook as the unmoving mass hit the tarmac. She didn't take her eyes off it for a while, holding her breath as she waited to it to stop its screeching, hoping it was its dying cry and praying it wouldn't attract too many other creatures.

The screeching stopped suddenly, its body going rigid then limp. Claire breathed out, watching the creature as she sidestepped towards an unconscious Leon. She dropped her hands slowly, the shock making her body want to stop. She reloaded her handgun, keeping it aimed at the creature in case there were any more surprises.

When she reached Leon, she knelt down beside him, keeping her right arm aimed up at the creature as she turned most of her attention to her partner on the floor. He had a deep bruise forming on the side of his head, his breathing was fine and he seemed almost asleep. Claire knew that she had to wake him up and had to get him moving – if the creature _did_ somehow get up again, they were most certainly screwed.

She tapped him on the shoulder, hoping to stir him. He groaned slightly, his eyes fluttering. He rolled over, a sharp hiss coming from his lips as he felt a terrible pain in his shoulder. It felt dislocated. Leon slowly opened his eyes, feeling slightly disorientated and having to try and remember what was going on. He couldn't see Claire anywhere, and quickly sat up trying desperately to find her. He looked around, seeing the creature that had run into him on the ground, blood pooling beneath in. Was that the creature's blood?

'Leon,' Claire whispered as he looked round at her. Now he was on full alert, ready to do what had to be done. He looked at her, getting a short smile and look to see if her partner was okay, before she paid her attention back to the creature. 'Leon, we have to move. Can you stand?' Claire whispered, her gun raised and ready to fire.

Claire got up, dropping her left hand to help Leon up. He held her hand as he rose, not using her hand but reassuring her by holding it. Leon led the way as the redhead kept her attention on the creature, holding her hand the whole time. He could have been sure that the creature was dead and was somewhat unsure that it was necessary for his partner to waste her energy on keeping the gun aimed.

They silently walked away as clouds started rolling in, the rain ready to pour. As they made their way back to the hotel, Claire's attention no longer on the creature, the cloud became dark and covered the long transformation taking place 200metres behind them.

Sherry fell against the wall, holding her side as her surely ruptured kidney started healing itself. She leant to the side as vomit came flying out of her mouth, falling to the ground and splattering the brick wall to more of a red colour. She coughed up more blood, the pain unbearable as her insides quickly stitched themselves together. She gritted her teeth, trying desperately not to lose consciousness due to the pain which racked her body.

'Over here you fat bastard!' Jake called, watching as the monster took another towering step towards his partner. He raised his nine-oh-nine, not wanting the disgusting thing get anywhere near the petit woman again. Another hit like the two she just received, and there would be nothing left of the woman to regenerate. She would be nothing more than shit on the wall.

Jake fired at the head of the towering creature, making it stop and start to turn to him. 'That's right you freak! Over here!' He took a step back, almost slipping on the creatures slime that smelt worse than anything Jake could remember smelling in his lifetime. He fired another shot, getting the creature's full attention.

It turned towards him, letting out an ear-piercing cry as it stared at him, its black eyes piercing. Jake took a cautious step back, tensing his legs ready to run at the slightest signs of the monster propelling itself. For something of its size, it moved too fast when it wanted to – he'd found that out when it had come propelling itself out of nowhere. But, as usual when a monster came running at the mercenary, Supergirl decided to put her powers to what she thought to be good use. Sure, he was grateful that she'd saved his ass, but for her to be smashed into the God-damn wall?

Jake took another shot at the creature, still drawing it away from the older woman on the ground. She seemed in pain, more pain than he'd ever seen her endure. He was surprised that she was still conscious. From the blood she was coughing up, she surely had a few broken ribs and possibly a ruptured kidney or something. Realistically, even he would have been unconscious and slowly dying as his body drowned itself. He hoped her body could regenerate quickly. Colour was yet to return to her cheeks.

Sherry coughed up blood once again, the tang of iron filling her mouth and assaulting her senses. Her vision was slightly blurred, but the pain in her abdomen was starting to fade, the G-virus doing its work.

She looked towards Jake, seeing that he was drawing the monsters attention and, unsurprisingly, throwing insults at the thing. He called it 'Hulk' as he fired off the seventh round of his handgun, which Sherry found appropriate for the things size and anger. She slowly got up, using the now bloodstained wall for support. She removed her hand from her side, seeing blood but no wound. Good. She was almost healed. She took a breath and took her knife from her belt, turning it in her hand and making sure she had it so that the blade was towards her.

Jake caught movement from behind the monster and as he fired off another round, he turned his vision in the general direction.

Sherry was running towards the Hulk, her footfalls too quiet for the creature to detect. She got close enough, tensed her legs, and jumped, using the momentum from her run to propel her high into the air. She got on top of the monsters shoulder, resulting in it crying out loudly at a high pitch. Jake covered his ears, almost dropping his gun from the shock of the noise. He was nowhere near the creature, yet he felt like his ears were bleeding. And Sherry's really were, but she didn't take too much notice.

With warm fluid trickling from her ears, which she was sure was blood, Sherry took her knife and cut the base of the neck of the creature. It reached up to try and grab her, but her agile body and instincts worked together to move her out of the way whilst she cut another area of the neck. That's when she saw it.

'Sherry!' Jake shouted, trying to reach her over the creatures horrid noise and the insanity she had surely been possessed by. _What the fuck is she doing?! _Real worry for her safety filled the mercenary.

Sherry cried out in pain as she stabbed the eye, digging her knife in as the creatures cries went up an octave and at least a thousand decibels. Jake stumbled, groaning as the noise became unbearable, to the point where he knelt on the ground and finally dropped his gun, not hearing it clatter to the ground.

The creature's body went limp as Sherry saw the red of the eye dim. The cry stopped and the body fell to the concrete, causing it to seem to shudder.

It didn't breathe again.

Sherry fell off the Hulks shoulders, hurting her back as she fell to the ground. Jake composed himself, checked whether his ears were still in working order, before jogging over to Sherry. She was moaning softly in discomfort as her body healed itself, quickly repairing her ear drums and all her other ailments. She was shaking as Jake gently picked her up, her eyes closed and blood drying like tears down her cheeks. She still looked quite beautiful to the mercenary as he started to walk back towards rendezvous, aware of the time despite all that happened in the last ten moments.

Sherry stirred, her body healed as she opened her eyes to look at Jake. He looked down at her, noting she was still shaking; there was a fear in her eyes – a memory. He smiled lightly at her. 'I appreciate the heroics, but just 'cuz you're Supergirl doesn't mean you can be suicidal,' he said, looking away for a moment, the risk of showing his emotions high. Sherry hummed in reply, tired after he body's regeneration.

'How did you know its weak spot?'

Sherry opened her eyes wide. She thought about it, what was going through her head at the time, in that half second when she formed the plan in her head.

'It's the G-virus. It… every B.O.W it creates has an eye, which is where the virus truly resides. It's how they search for a mate or target…' She thought of her father's face, the orange eye that was suddenly there, searching for her, locking on her. 'You had hurt it enough for it to start the regeneration process… the eye appears at the second stage or evolution, when the host's body is stronger. I could see a mass forming on its neck – the eye was my first thought…'

Jake processed this, continuing to walk as his jaw set. He was angry at her for risking her life like that, for risking her life to save him and then to kill the fucking thing. 'Why did you risk your life?' He asked, the harsh tone unmistakable in his voice.

'For you Jake. And I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to kill that thing before things got tricky.' She raised her neck and kissed him as he kept them moving forward, the creature unmoving behind them.

**A/N – If anybody noticed (I hope you did!) I placed an asterisk in this chapter, where I wanted to make further reference to Jill having some white hair. I thought that although she doesn't emotionally show that she went through any trauma, I think that her time with Wesker and being experimented on would have been extremely traumatic, even for our great protagonist. This relates to her having white hair as there is a condition called the Marie Antoinette Syndrome, where after a very traumatic event of series of events, the immune system attacks the colour pigments of the hair, turning hair white or grey. I thought that since Jill doesn't show her trauma to anyone through how she acts, I thought she should show it subtly through her physical appearance, and it shows how strong she is. **

**Chapter six coming soon! **


	6. Revelations

'This mission is hell already,' Jake muttered, laying on the bed he was hopefully going to be sharing with Sherry that night. The thought was inappropriate for the current conversation, but at least it brought a slight smile to the young man's lips.

'Well, at least we all got back alive,' Chris said, sitting on the loveseat in the far corner of the room. He had to agree with Jake though – the mission was already pretty fucked up.

'I'm just going to check on Leon,' Claire said, getting up from where she was sat on the floor. She walked over to the door and left, turning right to go to the room down the corridor.

They had all gotten to the hotel at around the same time. Jake and Sherry got there a few moments before Claire burst into the room asking Jake to help her carry Leon up. It wasn't long after they had gotten back to Jake and Sherry's room when Chris and Jill got back. They got straight to talking about their run-ins with the Hulk, and as Sherry got out of the bathroom from cleaning herself up, they were on the topic of talking strategy.

'They're not exactly easy to kill,' Jake said, moving over slightly so that Sherry could sit on the bed beside him. She had a calm body language, but as Jake looked at her he could tell she wasn't calm at all.

'What do you mean? It took us a clip, but that was it,' Jill stated, leaning against Chris and shuffling to get more comfortable. 'That's pretty easy as far as B. go Jake.' She shuddered slightly as memories flew through her mind. Chris's arm pulled her closer in response.

'It was the same for me,' Claire silently came back into the room, holding the hand of a slightly out-of-it Leon. He had a throbbing black mass on his right temple, his vision was slightly unfocused and his balance a little off, but he felt better than when he was actually unconscious – though he felt as though he was close to it again.

'Whoa Hero! You okay?' Jake asked, slightly concerned about the agent yet impressed by his determination.

'Nothing I can't handle Kid,' a slight smirk played on his lips.

Sherry waited for the older couple to sit on the end of the bed before speaking. 'That's not enough to kill it.'

Claire hummed in thought, remembering something. 'Sherry's right. Shooting the head has little impact.'

'Everything has a weak spot, right?' Chris said. He turned his full attention to Sherry as he asked 'these must too.'

Everyone's attention turned to Sherry as she nodded in confirmation.

'But it's not the head like the other viruses.' She took a breath. 'G resides in the eye that each B.O.W with the virus processes. The 'Hulk' didn't appear to have an eye, but it does. In its first form, many of the B. infected with this virus don't have an eye that's visible. However, the eye appears when the B.O.W regenerates, its previous form useless and another one better. The transformation means that G can fully take over the host, causing the eye in which G truly resides to become present. This _is_ G, not T or C.'

Sherry let out a shaky breath, feeling exhausted after having to remember the information her father shared with her mother when she was meant to be asleep, when she was old enough to understand, she listened, trying to figure out whether her father was doing a good thing or not. She felt a hand on hers, intertwining her finger with his and bringing her back to the present. He squeezed her hand lightly, and she squeezed his back, happy to have him there. Thankful for the anchor.

'But that doesn't make sense…' Claire thought aloud, deep in thought. 'With Birkin, there wasn't an eye visible in his last transformation, and we always aimed for the head.'

'With Miller, in Harvadville, I shot his third transformation in the head, which killed him…' Leon added. 'But then the reactor blew, which would have surely killed him.'

'With my father's fifth transformation, there would have been an eye. But, much like the first stage, it wouldn't have been visible. It would have most probably been hidden inside his – the body, somewhere where it could be protected. The fifth transformation is the last transformation. After that, the virus can no longer control the transformations, as it will have no DNA left to go by.' The raised eyebrows made her elaborate. 'G uses DNA to transform, breaking it apart as it does so, destroying the person the B.O.W once was almost completely.'

There was a silence in the hotel room, which caved in on Sherry. She felt terrible at the reminder of how her father had died, and how that had made the decision for her – what he had been doing was bad.

'You should have seen super girl over here!' Jake suddenly shouted, sounding more than impressed. 'She was pretty much dying, had some internal organs ruptured after getting hit by the motherfucker. She had hardly regenerated when she ran at the bastard, jumped on his back and stabbed him right in the neck. Pretty impressive.'

There was another round of silence. Nobody knew what to say, but they were all staring at Sherry once again. The oldest couple had questions in their eyes, the other showed pure pride. Sherry looked towards the two on the sofa as she said 'the eyes resides in the left side of the neck in the first transformation.'

Chris nodded, trying to wrap his head around the information he had just been given. 'Okay. I think we should get some rest, and resume the mission when Leon is well again. Tomorrow, we'll think of a plan.' Jill and Chris stood at the same time, taking hold of each other's hands as they walked across the room and out of the door. Not too far behind them followed a disorientated Leon and concerned Claire.

Sherry let out a breath as the other agents left, her shoulders sagging and her bod aching. Jake stretched his arm across the bed and Sherry fell onto it, exhaustion taking over. It was already dark outside, the sky cold and dark. As she closed her eyes, she rolled into Jake and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She breathed in his scent, of sweat and dirt, but she liked it. It was his scent.

'You are quite extraordinary Sherry,' Jake muttered into her hair, pushing her away slightly so that she could look at him, so that she knew he meant what he was saying. 'I knew you could heal yourself, but when almost dead…?' He had a slight sad look in his eyes. 'And you managed to kill that thing. You're strong super girl. But, you shouldn't have done it.'

'Jake, if I hadn't, it would have killed you!' Sherry pulled away further, shocked at what he was saying.

Jake paused to think for a moment before asking 'did you know you could survive?'

'What?'

'Did you know you could regenerate?' Jake looked at her, his ice-blue eyes piercing.

'No…' Sherry looked away, finally seeing Jake's point.

'Exactly.' He crossed his arms. 'So, you shouldn't have done it. I rest my case.' He sounded slightly smug. When Sherry looked up at him again however, his face showed no signs of looking smug. He seemed slightly upset, or hurt.

Sherry sat up and got up, her back facing Jake the whole time. He watched her as she went into the bathroom, not even turning to close the door behind her. He sighed, placing his hands behind his head. He had been right, Sherry shouldn't have taken the attacks from the Hulk, but he didn't have to tell her the way she did. Why couldn't he tell her that he had been worried for her? He was so worried about whether or not she would survive; whether her "powers" would work or not. He had to admit, it hurt him a little – he wasn't sure why.

Jake then wondered – what was Sherry doing? She'd only been to the bathroom ten minutes before. Surely she would have done her business when she was in there getting cleaned up. So why had she gone back in there?

He got off the bed and walked to the bathroom door. He knocked gently. 'Sherry? Are you okay?' He waited a beat, but no answer came from the other side of the door. He knocked again, slightly harder. 'Sherry?' There was still no answer. He put his ear to the door, seeing is his ears would detect any sound.

Not even a drip of the taps…

The virus flew through the creatures veins, the regeneration almost finished. The eye swelled, shifting position and glowing orange in the dark night. It searched – searching for a host, something it could use to multiply, to reproduce. There was nothing in sight.

It had to hunt.

The creature rose from the ground, leaving a pool of dried, black blood where its previous form's head had laid. It had grown. Its shoulders had broadened, its body mass increasing. It had risen to, growing taller, stronger. This wasn't the virus's strongest form, but it might be enough to multiply, to spread and to thrive. It needed to find another host, quickly. This form wouldn't last for too long.

The creature still produced a watery slime, but better than before. It allowed it to move faster, without the noise of a hulking mass. That was where Umbrella had gone wrong and failed. The creature started to move, gliding on its own biological lubricant. It was an improvement to the virus.

It took off to the west, noting that there was a building with a light. It could still think somewhat – the virus allowed it to for now. The human brain residing somewhere, the part of it that hadn't quite been over-written by the virus, recognised that if there was light there was life.

It moved quietly, getting there in a few minutes. It stayed hidden, waiting for morning, when a host might present itself.

And a new era could begin.


End file.
